May 29, 2012

On May 29, 1984 the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego
Chargers made a straight-up trade of disgruntled running backs, with the
Bengals sending Pete Johnson to San
Diego for James Brooks (pictured at right).

Johnson was 30 and had been taken by the Bengals in the
second round out of OhioState in 1977. He led Cincinnati in rushing in
all seven years that he was with the team, totaling 5421 yards and making him
the franchise’s all-time rushing leader at the time. He also was the club
leader in career touchdowns with 70. A classic fullback at 6’0” and 252 pounds,
Johnson’s best season came in 1981 as he rushed for 1077 yards, caught 46
passes for 320 more yards, and scored 16 TDs. He was named to the Pro Bowl and the
offensively-potent Bengals won their first AFC title.

In 1983, Johnson was suspended for the first four games of
the season due to cocaine use (he and a teammate, DE Ross Browner, received
immunity to testify in a federal trial regarding their purchase of cocaine from
a Cincinnati
plumber). He had reported late and overweight for training camp, but still
rushed for 763 yards and tied for the AFC lead in rushing touchdowns (along
with Seattle’s Curt Warner) with 14.

Johnson (pictured below) was insisting on a contract re-negotiation and made
clear that he would not stay in Cincinnati
past its expiration in ’84, looking at the USFL as a possible alternative. He
skipped a mandatory minicamp, likely the final straw for the front office.

GM Paul Brown of the Bengals had been angered by Johnson’s
behavior but was gracious in sending him off: “Pete Johnson has contributed
greatly for us over the years, and now the time has come for us to part and go
separate ways. We wish him well.”

As for the 25-year-old Brooks, he was San
Diego’s first draft choice in 1981 out of Auburn and led the NFL in all-purpose yardage
in ’81 and ’82. Small and fast at 5’10” and 177 pounds, Brooks had been
critical of his use by Head Coach Don Coryell in San Diego. “It started about
the second game last season,” he explained. “I didn’t want them to put me at
fullback…San Diego
wanted me to block instead of letting me go one-on-one with linebackers in
passing situations.” While he had received assurances from Coryell in minicamp
that the team would run the ball more often, he was instead dealt to Cincinnati.

In ’83, the Chargers were coming off their first losing
season under Coryell, who had taken over as head coach during the 1978 season.
The team went 6-10 and, among the many problems, star RB Chuck Muncie had a
substandard performance. While he gained 886 yards and scored 13 touchdowns, he
averaged 3.8 yards per carry, his lowest total with the Chargers and
second-lowest of his eight-season career that began in New Orleans, and also
fumbled eight times (as did Brooks).

Meanwhile, the Bengals had a new head coach in the
unorthodox Sam Wyche and were looking to open up the offense and provide a more
varied running attack.

The trade ended up being very one-sided in Cincinnati’s favor. Johnson failed to last the
season in San Diego,
performing badly over the course of three games (19 carries for 46 yards). He was
dealt off to Miami
where he finished up the year – and his career.

James Brooks went on to have a long and outstanding stint
with the Bengals. He started off slowly in ’84, still used more as the change-of-pace
back that he had been in San Diego and running the ball just 103 times for 396
yards and catching 34 passes for 268 more while another big fullback, Larry
Kinnebrew, and veteran Charles Alexander received more of the carries. But in
1985 Brooks was used more extensively and set a team record for total yards in
a season as he rushed for 929 yards on 192 attempts (4.8 avg.) and caught 55
passes for 576 yards while scoring 12 touchdowns.

In four of the next five years, Brooks was selected to the
Pro Bowl and gained over a thousand yards rushing on three occasions, with a
high of 1239 in ’89. His 1773 total yards in 1986 were also a career high in a
season in which he led the NFL in average gain per carry (5.3 on 205 attempts
for 1087 yards). He stayed in Cincinnati through 1991 and ended up rushing for
6447 yards (surpassing Johnson’s team mark) with a 4.8-yard average (he
averaged over five yards per carry in each of his thousand-yard rushing
seasons) and gaining another 3012 yards on 297 pass receptions (a fine 10.1
average out of the backfield) while totaling 64 touchdowns.

The Bengals also won a conference title along the way, in
1988, with Brooks effective but overshadowed by power-running rookie sensation
Ickey Woods (who proved to have far less staying power). The combination of the
two made Cincinnati
the top running team in the NFL that season. But when Woods was lost to injury
in ’89, the Bengals still led the league in rushing with Brooks carrying most
of the load. He proved in Cincinnati that,
despite the small size that had been considered a limiting factor in San Diego, he was a tough
and dependable runner as well as an outstanding pass receiver. He also ended up
having surprising longevity (he was 32 when last selected to the Pro Bowl for
the 1990 season) and was one of the most productive all-around backs of his
era.